


Solstice

by Tria101



Series: the Rulers of Subcon [4]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Eating Disorder, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Loss of Limbs, Mention of vomitting, Shipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:41:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29761182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tria101/pseuds/Tria101
Summary: What if Vanessa never killed her prince? What if, far before she ever thought of locking him up, she decided to take a...different action, and wind up working to better herself? What would happen then? What sort of ending would they have...? (Very shippy, more details in notes)
Relationships: The Prince & Queen Vanessa (A Hat in Time)
Series: the Rulers of Subcon [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754167
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyy, guys, anyone miss me? Where have I been? Well, computerless for a while, and then I kind of just...never had motivation to post, or write more fic. I'm hoping to update Denial s o o n (though, my headcanons have officially outgrown basically every fic I've posted, including this one; oh well?), but, for now, I feel like my Solstice AU is very much overdue.
> 
> This fic contains a LOT of stuff I came up with for my interpretations of these two. I highly recommend reading Vanessa Volumes, particularly Choke from there, before actually reading this, because uses diverging from Choke's events as a jumping off point. Without all that, you might be incredibly lost, I'm afraid.
> 
> But if y'don't want to go read Vanessa Volumes, I can't exactly stop ya either.
> 
> Feel free to tell me if there's any typos or grammar errors or continuity errors! I'll try to fix them, but just saying "there's an error here!" won't actually help me, mostly in the grammar area. I won't be able to spot it on my own, sorry! ;w;  
> Also, this fic is written a bit...differently. Hopefully it won't get too confusing!
> 
> First chapter's quite short, basically a prologue, but the rest should be longer.

"You're not changing my mind on this.  
 _Be a good princess and sit. back._ **_down_**."  
  
She almost did.  
She almost listened.  
Instead, her legs propelled her towards the door. _If I can make it past Mother, I can see Lumi...!  
  
_ The sound of ice whooshed past Vanessa's ears, and she barreled past her mother, down the stairs...  
Hitting the booth on the other side of the room nearly forced the sweets she had eaten back out of her mouth, but she kept them down and continued running.  
  
"-my princess...?"  
  
 _WHUD!  
  
_ She threw herself full-force into Lumiose's confused embrace. He was warm, comforting...  
Safe.  
  
Mother came rushing out after her, furious--  
"What do you think you're _doing!?  
_ You're unwell! Get back to your room!"  
\--but it was too late.  
  
Vanessa held her prince tighter, trying to force out the words she wanted to say, though her throat fought her. "Lu...lu...i...  
...n...n....m...th...."  
  
Lumiose seemed to understand despite her struggles. Or...perhaps, because of them...?  
He wrapped a protective arm around her, glaring at the older woman. "...What happened?"  
  
"She's not well." Mother repeated, annoyed. "She's simply lost her voice, is all."  
  
"...Her throat's been bruised."  
  
"That's--"  
  
"She's coming home with me." He stated firmly. "I'll have our finest doctors look her over, and _then_ we'll discuss what happened and why."  
  
Mother began to protest, stepping closer...then let out a yelp as thorns dug into her ankles; Lumi's secondary bit of magic.  
  
"...See you then, ma'am.  
Come on, my princess, let's get out of here..."  
  
Vanessa was afraid of getting too close to the horse, and it seemed similarly antsy...but Lumiose was too angry to be defied, so both stayed on their best behavior.  
  


\--  
  


_His fiance leaned over his shoulder, nuzzling into his neck. "Writing to her again, Lumi...?"  
  
_ _Lumiose poked his tongue out at her. "We said we would!"  
  
_ _Vanessa merely whined, pouting at him. "You said I could write it this time...!"  
  
_ _"Do you even remember half the stuff we learned?" He smirked, earning even more of a pout.  
_ _  
"That's beside the point!  
_ _Lemme wriiiiiiiiite...~!" She fake-whined. "I wanna write this tiiiime, c'mooooonnnn...!"  
  
_ _"Mmm...nope, I already started~"  
  
_ _"Lumiiiiiiiiii...! You meaniiiieee..."  
_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is PROBABLY the time to mention that I have about zero medical experience. I research as best as I can, but I can't guarantee how accurate anything I write is. I also probably should have mentioned that for the last chapter, with the bruising...but hopefully, if you're here, I haven't broken the suspension of disbelief.  
> The chapters I'm posting right away are pre-written, so they're staying as-is, but if anyone wishes to enlighten me on any of the conditions I got wrong, I'd love to hear it anyway! And I'll keep that information in mind for any further stories.

A lot...had happened, in what seemed to be such a short amount of time.  
  
It didn't take a doctor to tell that Vanessa had been choked. The bruises were in the shape of handprints, after all.  
Some magic, rest, and plenty of ice later, and her throat was good as new - allowing her to confirm Lumi's suspicions that Mother was the one responsible.  
  
More effort was needed to coax the truth of the situation out of her, though. That involved a lot of pleading, kisses, and sitting _quite_ patiently through one of Vanessa's tantrums, which left her a crying, apologizing mess...  
It was different from her other fits, however. From the apologies than never felt quite right.  
He couldn't put his finger on why, but it was easy to tell she was just scared and stressed, not intending to harm or guilt. She just wanted to hide from the truth...  
  
The truth that she had done nothing wrong, and her mother had choked her out of malice, nothing more.  
  
 _Honestly, what kind of **bitch** doesn't let her daughter go to the village...?_ Lumi normally told himself off for thinking such things...  
But Vanessa still jumped if he hugged her from behind, visibly tensed, bracing herself, if he tried to touch anywhere around her neck.  
It still took _weeks_ for her beautiful voice to completely come back, and her neck still sported scars...  
  
In this case, he felt justified in calling it as he saw it.  
  
Under his care, his father mostly staying out of the way, Vanessa changed more than Lumi could have expected. She retained their lessons better, she hadn't fought with him once. There _was_ the occasional moment where she would raise her voice, but it was nothing compared to the _screaming_ she would do before, and these incidents didn't last very long.  
  
Mostly, she was just incredibly clingy, wanting snuggles and kisses pretty much whenever they were together. That wasn't _too_ different from before, exactly, she just...had more control then. Or, at the very least, she didn't give off the impression that she thought he'd disappear if she wasn't holding onto him.  
  
There _was_ a moment he had on his own without feeling even the slightest amount of guilt, however; whenever Vanessa slept, which was often, he could do as he pleased without worrying too much about her. The nightmares that initially plagued her dreams had steadily tapered out...  
It gave him plenty of time to think. To roll over all the facts and options in his head.  
  
Fact.  
Vanessa's mother had choked her so harshly that she lost her voice. Because, if he was to believe her, she had fought against not being allowed to walk in the village without her mother watching.  
Now that she was in a new environment, his princess had become less volatile.  
And now that he actually could be with her all the time, it was unmissable that she wasn't eating properly; only sweets, and not in any amount he'd consider good enough for a meal.  
  
He was going to have to bring the doctor back around.  
  
As for options...  
...there didn't seem to be many...  
He absolutely _could not_ send Vanessa back to her mother.  
But it'd be difficult to prosecute royalty, especially with little to no evidence...  
He'd be leaving for the academy soon. He couldn't just...leave her with only his father as real company! But he couldn't take her _with_ him...  
...could he...?  
  


His fingers drummed against his desk, before he pulled out a paper and began writing...  
 _I can't believe I'm doing this...  
  
_ \--  
  
 _His eyes snapped open. His body ached.  
He tried to sit up, only to tumble back to the ground and make a startling discovery – his arm was missing! It was missing and it…  
…didn't really hurt…?  
Certainly, there was a dull pain to his entire body, but nothing that pointed to his missing limb to being the cause of it. A strange, black ooze poured out from the leftover stump.  
Something sticky dribbled down his cheek…  
  
The sky was bright and clear. The grass was bright. It was warm.  
Warm, and absolutely nothing like Subcon Forest.  
It was field.  
One…he didn't recognize.  
  
Attempting to gather his bearings before simply letting himself panic, he glanced around to see he wasn't alone. There was a couple of unfamiliar faces here and there. However, most important was-  
  
"Vanessa!" He rushed over to his fiancé. She had collapsed on the ground, her right leg missing, just like her arm. Though, a bright, pearly slime leaked from her…  
  
She groaned and pushed herself up in response to his voice, looking dazed. "Where...what…what happened…?" She asked slowly, lifting a hand to her head. "What hit me…?"  
  
"I don't—I don't know…"  
Lumiose paused to scan the area again.  
…there wasn't anyone else he recognized.  
And…no one who looked like they understood the situation any better than he did.  
  
"…this isn't Subcon…"  
  
His breath caught for a moment, then he nodded. "It really…isn't."  
So, it wasn't just him…  
He looked down at his remaining hand. Maybe this was just a dream? It HAD to be one…right…?  
  
What else…could it possibly be…?  
And if it wasn't one…what else could they possibly do…?  
  
What were they supposed to…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omens, Blightings, Blessings, Heatspell. (Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer)  
> Morningstar, Sirius, Virginis, Antares, Librae, Capella, Polaris. (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
> 
> Am I allowed to have my own lore for Subcon, far beyond anything provided or implied? I guess if I REALLY wanted to be a rebel, I could give them more or less days of the week...  
> Fun fact for this universe; Subcon Forest has a tropical climate, and experiences monsoons/hurricanes instead of snow.
> 
> Each month has a patron/tutelary deity, which the month is then named after, but I haven't come up with all the names yet. So far, I have Solstice (June), Anther (August), and Rosette (September).  
> For added fun, I also shifted the seasons slightly, so "Blightings" starts in March, "Blessings" starts in June, and so on...

"My princess, have you thought about going to school?"  
  
She blinked, staring at him blankly. "Like...that thing you want to do?"  
  
"Yes! The academy..."  
  
Vanessa shrugged with a mild bit of hesitation. She looked off towards the ground, avoiding his eyes. "N...not really...? Princesses don't go to school...  
...and you know I'm terrible at reading..."  
  
"You're getting better, though." He waved a dismissive hand. "And you'll still be a princess afterwards, I assure you." He still didn't know why she was like this; how her staunch views of how a princess should be came into being.  
But he had a _suspicion_...  
  
When she didn't respond, he continued.  
"It's...how should I put this...  
...They don't normally do this sort of thing, but, in light of the circumstances, I requested that the academy allow that I take you alongside me. A plus one of sorts."  
Vanessa gawked, her face unmistakably lighting up, despite her reservations.  
"Now -- if you go" _I'd really heavily prefer if you did._ "it won't be as another student. It's moreso...as a helper, for the faculty there. But I'd still be able to teach you and you can attend _some_ tutoring sessions with me. And you wouldn't have to stay here, nor with your mother."  
  
She hesitated. He knew this would be far out of her comfort zone, but since that zone was so...so...so _fucked_ to begin with, he didn't feel too bad about it.  
 _Ye gods_ , he had lost count of the amount of times he had to explain to her that being screamed at and choked half to death over mere disobedience wasn't acceptable...  
".......can I stay in the same room as you...?" She asked shyly, chewing her bottom lip.  
  
"It's the only one available." That had been an awkward part of the negotiations; he had gotten a letter back outlining the fact that the dorms were already full, so she'd have to be kept in his room, and... "...No 'funny business', by the by."  
In response to her confused look, he added, "Nothing lewd or inappropriate...er...no 'husband and wife' things."  
  
She frowned at that, beginning to pout. "No kissing...?"  
  
Lumiose snorted and had to catch himself. Laughing in her face would _not_ help matters.  
 _But she's just so cute...!  
_ "Weeeellll..." He made a show of thinking on it. "...I _suppose_ we can kiss every Antares."  
  
The princess looked like she couldn't decide whether to take him seriously or not, which just made it harder to keep from laughing. "Al...alright then...I think."  
  
He smiled, absolutely wanting to kiss her _right now_.  
But he contained it for the moment.  
"...there's one other caveat I wish to add."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"I believe it'd be beneficial for you to talk to others more, so I'd like for you to have a penpal to write to every night." He nodded, feeling quite pleased as Vanessa didn't immediately look disgusted with the idea. "We can go pick out one from the village tomorrow, if you'd like."  
  
She instantly tensed. "Th-the village...?"  
  
"No one will be upset with you." He added hurriedly. "We won't go anywhere near the manor, and I won't leave your side for a second."  
  
Vanessa didn't look happy, but she wasn't angry either. She looked worried, fearful, unsure...  
...then, as he began to doubt his request, she slowly nodded. "O-okay...  
If...if you really want me to, I'll do my best..."  
  
He finally went and kissed her, a soft peck to the lips. Some of her worries seemed to instantly vanish. "Thank you, my princess~ That's all I ask."  
  
\--  
  
 _His blood ran cold as he stared at her arms. It had always been a fight to get her to remove her gloves, one he always lost, and now he knew why.  
_ _Scars neatly marched from her wrists down her forearms, only going as far as her gloves would cover. The ones closer to her palms were a bright, angry red. The edges were messier, indicating she had cut there multiple times, but never quite the same way twice.  
  
_ _She didn't meet his eyes. A habit she displayed whenever she felt like he'd be angry with her. He hadn't clicked onto that early on, but it didn't take long for him to catch on, nor did she try to deny it when asked.  
_ _If he reached for her in this state, she would flinch. That fact alone kept him from trying to hug her.  
  
_ _Some part of him wanted to take this behavior to heart, though he knew it was illogical to do so. Some part of him **wanted** to be angry, like she feared.  
_ _But it's just because she had to deal with her mother for so long._ _He reminded himself. She expects to be hurt for this. It's not that she expects you, personally, to be violent.  
_ _...He wasn't sure how, but he'd see to it that she wouldn't have to feel so afraid anymore.  
_ _More research to be done, then, I suppose...  
_ _It was just unfortunate that there wasn't a doctor that could cure trauma...at least...as far as he currently knew.  
  
_ _...One task at a time, though.  
_ _Neither of them had made a sound since she took her gloves off. As deafening the silence was, Lumiose didn't want to be the first to break it.  
_ _Maybe, if he was quiet long enough, time would stand perfectly still, and he could figure out--  
  
_ _Vanessa made a choked whimper, before tears began rolling down her cheeks, freezing and then falling from her face. It didn't take long for that whimper to turn into sobs.  
_ _"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." She forced out desperately, as though those were the magic words to take back the sight she had shown him. "I di-didn't mean to be like this...I..." As she choked on her emotions, the words dying in her throat, Lumiose felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.  
  
_ _I should have said something.  
_ _What could I have said?  
_ _What can I say...?  
  
_ _He hugged her close, holding her tightly. If his grip hurt, she gave no indication.  
_ _"It's fi-hh..." He caught himself, trying again to figure out the words he wanted to say. Vanessa hurting herself was not fine...but...it wasn't like he was mad at her for it...  
_ _Just worried, and concerned...  
_ _...afraid...  
_ _"...it's okay." He took her hands into his with much more gentleness. "I'm not-...I'm not mad at you for this. I'm not angry with you, nor disappointed. You aren't worth any less to me. I want you to know that."  
  
_ _She sniffled, nodding as it seemed she still hadn't regained her words yet.  
  
_ _He nodded back in confirmation.  
_ _"...but...I'm still worried...  
_ _You shouldn't be doing this..." What the hell am I saying? Of course she already **knows** that... "...you shouldn't...have ever had to go through anything that made you want to hurt yourself..."  
_ _...Lumiose took a deep breath, before sighing wearily. He didn't know what to do...  
_ _They had barely spoken, and yet he somehow felt **so exhausted**.  
_ _I bet Nessa doesn't feel much better...  
  
_ _Finally, she spoke up, "What...do we do now...?"  
  
_ _"...I don't know..." He answered honestly. "I feel like there's a lot you still haven't told me, but I'm not...even really sure I could help if you did...though I can certainly try." He wished he could be more confident...  
_ _"Until I find the words, though...what do you feel up to doing...?"  
_ _  
She shrugged uselessly. "W-whatever you want to do...?"  
_ _  
"That's not what I asked, my love." He pecked her forehead. "Try again, please."  
_ __  
"I...h-hm..."  



	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last warning that I'm going to be keeping these two together; I know that, realistically, you shouldn't have to forgive your abuser or take them back, nor do a tragic backstory excuse horrible actions, and good therapy is much more preferable to roughing it with loved ones...but this is fiction and I'm here to have fun shipping these two and writing terrible things and hopelessly, unrealistically optimistic things.  
> If this is something that bothers you, you're absolutely free to feel bothered and leave! I won't hold it against you, and neither will anyone else. You're free to have your limits as I'm free to decide mine.
> 
> Thank you for understanding!

The doctor confirmed exactly what Lumiose didn't want to hear. While Vanessa's body had _acclimated_ to eating nothing but sweets, she was, in fact, underweight -- not horribly so, but the periods she went without eating anything were taking their toll.  
On top of that...was an extra bit of news that made his heart sink to his stomach.  
  
Evidence that she had likely been puking things up.  
  
Vanessa wouldn't divulge anything to the doctor, unsurprisingly. But Lumiose was strongly encouraged to talk to her. Ask what was going on, if there was more to it than just...not eating.  
  
 _I guess it's up to me to figure out how to fix it, too...  
_...he didn't mind. Not really anyway.  
It was just...that the horrible, gnawing sensation in his stomach told him that he'd probably make things worse.  
  
 _But I really ought to try.  
  
_ So, here he was, standing outside her door, hesitating to knock. _What am I going to say...?  
_ _Where do I begin?  
  
_ The door opened on its own. He wasn't ready.  
  
"M...my prince...?" Vanessa looked confused, and so...sad...  
  
"-oh, um, Nessa...  
May I come in?"  
  
She nodded, moving out of the way, then closing the door behind him once he was properly inside the room.  
With little other choice, he sat on the edge of the bed.  
She sat with him after a few seconds.  
  
"...did, um...did the doctor tell you all his observations...?" He asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. She stared at her hands...  
  
"...I'm underweight and I've been puking a lot...?"  
  
"Y-yeah, those are the ones..."  
  
She quietly nodded.  
Ahhh, this was awkward, so terribly, terribly awkward...  
His heart pounded in his chest.  
 _What can I say that won't hurt her...?  
  
_ He shifted, placing a hand on hers. "...May I ask why...?"  
  
"...no."  
  
Lumiose paused, waiting for...well... _any_ indication that she was joking. But there wasn't one.  
He felt sick...  
  
Glancing at him, Vanessa intertwined her fingers with his. "...J-just...not right now...please..."  
  
His mouth was dry. Could he fight her on this...?  
Was he _meant_ to fight her on this?  
"O-okay..."  
  
"..." She still wouldn't look at him... "...Are you upset with me...?"  
  
"Not--not upset...  
Just concerned." He leaned against her shoulder. "Concerned and worried...  
It hurts, knowing you've been suffering, and I haven't...I haven't..." ...ack...  
He tried to wipe the tears from his face, but they evaporated before they got very far. Why had he started crying...?  
 _He_ wasn't the one going through it...!  
Why...  
  
Vanessa clung to his arm tighter, hugging it close to her body. He hadn't paid much mind before, but now, with this knowledge, he couldn't tear his mind from trying to figure out if he could feel how thin she was under her clothing.  
"P-please don't cry..." She begged. "I-it's okay...! I...  
...I can try to eat more, if that'd make you happy...?"  
  
Something about this made him feel worse. Maybe it was how it felt like he had guilted her to it, or...the sinking sensation that this was _not_ the way to fix things...  
  
But it was a start. So he nodded. "Y-yes, it would..." Then, after a little hesitation, he quickly added, "th-though, we'll have to work on more than just that, of course..."  
  
"O...of course." She closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder.  
"...I'm sorry..."  
  
"You don't have to apologize..." He kissed her. "It's okay. We'll work on this together, alright...?"  
  
\--  
  
 _It had been a long time since Lumiose had gotten to eat bacon. He had been fearful to ask, which seemed silly in retrospect -- Vanessa had completely forgotten the rule long ago, and apologized profusely when he asked if she'd rethink it.  
  
_ _So, here he was, enjoying his favorite food for breakfast...  
_ _He had yet to brush his hair out, and it had gotten long and fluffy. Vanessa's was currently longer, but she kept going quiet whenever he said anything.  
_ _She'll figure out what she wants to do when she's ready._ _He had faith in that.  
_ _In the meantime, he was considering trying out a nice braid, perhaps...?  
_ _Might make me look more scholarly~  
  
_ _"Go-oo-ood morning...!" Vanessa yawned, stretching as she walked into the room. He responded with a muffled, "mhm!", still busy stuffing his face..._ _  
_

 _  
She took a look at him, his plate...and for a hot minute, Lumiose started to panic, especially as she got closer to him. Vanessa had gotten leagues better, for sure, but in that moment, it'd didn't matter...  
  
_ _I knew it, she's upset, I shouldn't have done this, I should have--  
  
_ ** _SMOOCH!  
  
_** _Her lips met his, and, when she pulled away with a coy grin, he suddenly had much less bacon in his mouth.  
_ _"Thanks for the breakfast~"  
  
_ _"Wha--hey, I thought you hated bacon!" He frowned at her, though needing to suppress a chuckle. A grin of his own tugged at the corners of his mouth.  
  
_ _She gave an exaggerated shrug, pretending to be offended. "How can I hate something I've never eaten before? Preposterous!"  
  
_ _"Tsk!" He clicked his tongue at her. "Bacon thief!"  
_ _She erupted into giggles.  
_ _"Keeping it from me, then stealing it from my mouth, I see how it is!"  
  
_ _It was hard to talk through the laughter. "Oh, do you now~?"  
  
_ _"Yup.  
_ _Tsk, tsk..." He shook his head. "A thief, in my house, living right under my nose..."  
  
_ _"We're in a hotel, you nerd!" She giggled harder, throwing her arms around him and covering his cheek in kisses.  
_ _"C'moooonnnn, is there any way I could make it up to you, my cutie nerd~?"  
  
_ _"Mmmmm..." He put on a show of trying to think.  
_ _"...I suppose there is_ one thing...~"  



	5. Chapter 5

"I didn't notice before, but is your father always that annoying?" Vanessa skipped alongside him. This were still rough, but she was making a genuine attempt to heal right now. He appreciated that more than he could express.  
Having an actual diet seemed to be putting a real peppiness into her too!  
  
"Unfortunately..."  
  
It was similarly unfortunate their initial village plans had fallen through -- between Vanessa getting figuratively cold feet and the doctor visit, it had gotten put off for a while -- which meant they were making this trip in a bit of a pinch. Just a couple more days and they'd have to leave for the Academy...  
  
Father, as usual, had tried to make things infinitely more complicated. Mostly by deciding to insist that his future wife _could not_ go to school, and shouldn't be getting a peasant for a pen pal.  
One look at Vanessa's face had told him she had very quickly stopped listening, and for that, he was grateful. It was already hard enough to assure her that the academy would be a fine experience, even _if_ she had to do chores...  
  
Chores that, right now, she didn't seem to be considering one bit. Or perhaps she was, but the bit of spite she had gained was motivating her to not care so much.  
  
She made a face. "What a creep! Glad we don't have to deal with him for much longer..."  
  
"Yeah, he's pretty terrible about what he thinks royalty should and shouldn't do." Lumi sighed. "He threatened to keep me from going to the academy if I didn't try to get a wife..."  
  
"-oh!"  
She perked, proceeding to turn around and skip backwards so she could still look at him. "You said that when we first met, right? That you had to come to my event 'cause he'd let you go afterwards."  
  
He blinked, watching her. "Y-yeah...you still remember that?"  
  
"Of course!" She grinned proudly. "It's why I got interested in you to begin with!"  
The prince felt his face grow hot, and he embarrassedly looked away.  
"And now, your wife is gonna go _with_ you to law school~!"  
  
He chuckled slightly. "You're not my wife yet..."  
  
"But I _will_ be, after you graduate~!"  
  
"Hmhm, true..." He moved to take her hand, gently kissing her lips.  
Vanessa immediately stopped skipping and returned the gesture. When they broke apart, she happily walked into the village, hand-in-hand with him...   
  
...  
  
It had been a while since she had been to the village, yet it seemed like nothing had changed. The buildings were the same, as was the hustle and bustle of the streets...  
"...I guess this place is pretty timeless." She mused without thinking.  
  
The prince's slightly startled reaction told her he wasn't expecting that sort of comment. "-ah? I suppose so...  
It never seems to really change, huh..." He gazed out at the sight before them thoughtfully, a soft smile on his face.  
"Wonder who'd be good to write to..."  
  
She didn't really know the answer to that, herself. _Definitely none of the kids...  
_...though the moment she thought that, she felt sort of bad...  
  
"...I am an adult." She told herself, a bit louder than intended.  
  
Lacking the context, Lumiose snorted, pausing to kiss her head. "Whatever you say, dear~" He pulled back with a teasing grin.  
  
"-I _am!_ " She hit her hands against him, though being careful not to put much force into it. She didn't want to actually _hurt_ him!  
  
Lumiose chuckled, holding back his natural laugh like she had told him to. "Oh noooo, I'm getting beaten up~  
Whatever shall I do~?"  
...Part of her was really starting to miss it...  
  
 _Maybe it's not "princely", but it was his...  
  
_Then, an extra giggle joined in the fun. "Awww, upset your girlfriend, huh~?"  
They looked over to see someone Vanessa vaguely remembered noticing before, but never actually speaking to. A rather cute girl, with braided red hair, bright green eyes...  
"You know what'd fix that?" She asked, grinning at them mischievously.  
  
The prince still seemed to be in a playful mood, because he merely smiled. "What would fix it?"  
  
"Flowers~!" The girl replied, pulling a lone red rose from one of the bouquets she had on display.  
Vanessa was _fairly_ certain it hadn't been there before, but didn't particularly care.  
 _What a pretty rose...!  
_ _How romantic...  
_ She _absolutely_ wanted it!  
  
He took note of his fiance's excited bouncing, and strode over. "Alright then~  
How much for the rose then?"  
  
"Mmmmm..." The florist made a show of thinking _very hard_ about it.  
"...you're in luck!  
It's on the house today~" She gestured for Vanessa to come closer, which the princess obediently did, bowing to allow the flower to be placed in her hair.  
  
Vanessa straightened back up, feeling quite sure she was blushing now...  
...which got more intense as Lumiose tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  
  
"You look absolutely stunning~"  
  
"Heeheehee..." _Ohhhh gosh...  
_ Her prince was so sweet...!  
And this girl too...  
"...oh!" Vanessa bounced again, clasping her hands together. "Actually, I'll be leaving for a while, and we were looking for someone to be my penpal!  
Perhaps you would like to...?"  
  
The girl perked. "Penpal to a princess?  
Well, who could say no to that~?" She smiled sweetly.  
The princess's heart fluttered a bit in response, but she disregarded it. _She's just cute, is all...!  
_ "My name's Coriander. Or -- well -- you can just call me Cori, if you please, your majesty!  
So, what's the occasion...~?"  
  
\--  
  
 _"You sure about this...?"  
  
_ _"Of course!" Vanessa was careful not to move her head. "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't!"  
  
_ _Lumiose ran the comb down her hair, collecting as much as he could against his hand. "Alright then..."  
_ _He switched the comb for a pair of scissors and began snipping.  
  
_ _He always figured that she would decide what to do with her hair on her own. And he was right about that.  
_ _But what he had expected was that she'd go to a professional, or just cut it herself...  
  
_ _Instead, she insisted he do it with his own hands. So they'd be "even", she said, because she had cut his hair before.  
_ _"Don't hold back, just do what you want!"  
  
_ ** _snip  
_** ** _snip  
_** ** _snip  
  
_** _Her pretty blonde hair fell to the floor in chunks. It was messy and uneven -- he had never done this sort of thing before -- yet Vanessa happily sat there, staying as still as she could.  
_ _He hadn't noticed before, though, how... off her hair seemed. It was hard to tell until it was cut, but he could sense trace amounts of magic coming off of the severed strands...  
  
_ _"Did...you get your hair enchanted...?" He asked as he kept cutting. He wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing anymore...  
  
_ _In the mirror, Vanessa's eyes briefly flicked towards him. "Encha...? --Oh! Right.  
_ _I think Mother used a spell to change the color...wasn't able to figure out how to change it back, so I just...didn't."  
  
_ _He frowned. **That horrible woman again.  
**_ ** _Even now, why does she have to haunt Vanessa?  
_** _"...Did you... want to have your hair color changed...?"  
_ _Even before he asked, he already knew the answer...  
  
_ _"No...I really hated having blonde hair when it happened.  
_ _But I'm used to it now." She sounded so...so casual about it...!  
  
_ _No wonder she didn't think much about going after mine until I yelled at her...  
  
_ _"Do you like it?"  
  
_ _Something about that question brought Lumiose back to reality with a sick feeling in his stomach.  
_ _"I love every part of you." Though, now, so much of her hair was gone that he'd probably need a razor if he wanted to continue the "'haircut". He had completely zone out, and his hands had done the rest. "Though I am curious about what your actual color is like..."  
  
_ _She shrugged. "Don't really remember anymore...  
_ _Are you done, dear?"  
  
_ _The words twisted around his tongue. He was certain that he couldn't go further, so, logically, he was done, even if he regretted cutting off so much.  
_ _But, at the same time, why couldn't he just...  
  
_ _Don't we have a book on disenchanting things?  
  
_ _"...I want to do one more thing." He said quickly. "Wait a moment, okay?"  
  
_ _"Heehee, yessir~"  
  
_ _He pulled away, going to open his traveling back and search through it. He had gotten the book on a whim...mostly because Vanessa loved causing trouble whenever she felt particularly playful.  
_ _He hadn't expected to use it for anything else...  
  
_ _Upon finding it, he pulled it out and flipped through the pages. His eyes skimmed over the words until they landed on what he needed; if Vanessa had been watching, she would have teased him for it. Even after this long, she still found it strange he could read so fast...  
_ __Bet you'll be thanking me for it now, though. He joked inside his head, smiling as went back to her, book in hand. He was careful not to say anything outloud -- he wanted it to be a surprise.  



	6. Chapter 6

Vanessa whined, bouncing and squirming around in her seat. Traveling sounded _so good_ at first -- she had completely missed the part where she'd be staying in a carriage for several days on end. Lumiose, whom was sitting in the seat across from her, assured her that there would be stops every few hours...  
  
But that was a few hours where she had _ nothing_ to do!  
  
Lumi tried, for the first twenty minutes, to read her, but couldn't keep his voice raised above the horse's hooves and the wheels clattering over the dirt path. She had assured him he could just read to himself as he liked, so he did, but... _but...!  
  
_ _I'm going to die of boredom before we ever get there!  
  
_ She rocked back and forth in her seat. The only reason she didn't try talking to him was because it'd defeat the purpose of letting him read.  
  
 _At least I can stare out the window.  
  
_ But what was there to look at? They weren't even out of Lumiose's kingdom yet, so she had already seen everything...  
  
 _Reason #30 that carriages are horrible; I hate horses and they hate me back.  
  
_ True, this time around, the horse didn't react to her very much. A _massive_ improvement over when animals used to attack or flee just from her getting near. Yet, it really didn't matter -- no matter how much fairytales tried to sell her on them, she and animals just... _never_ saw eye to eye. She didn't know why, she was just done trying to figure it out.  
  
 _Hopefully it doesn't freak out and dump us off somewhere...  
  
_ If only the ride wasn't so bumpy, maybe she could have started drawing or something...  
  
After a while, she sighed deeply, choosing to give up. She carefully pulled a book from Lumi's bag, with a little help from him, and sat back.  
It was reasonably sized, though it took her several minutes to properly read the title. If she remembered correctly, didn't books like this have summaries on the back...?  
 _...Best not bother._  
She flipped it open to the first page, and slowly tried to make sense of the letters in front of her.  
  
Reading was always the worst.  
The letters would twist around in her brain, making the words look like gibberish. It ran deep enough that she couldn't write properly without a _lot_ of effort -- and even then, she still had a few instances where she looked at something she had just wrote and realized the words had come out backwards.  
Of course, Lumiose, in his infinite kindness, had done some research and found some ways to cope, like covering parts of the words up with her hand so she was forced to process a letter at a time.  
  
But she still hated it.  
  
She hated how much trying to read made her feel like she was going insane without her coping mechanisms, and like she was a tiny, useless child with them.  
Being read to might also look childish, but it felt romantic to an extent. Like her beloved prince was sharing something he adored with her.  
It was just a shame that such a thing couldn't occur when there was so much noise around them...  
  
 _I hope school won't have much reading, for me anyway..._  
  
\--  
  
 ** _drip  
drip  
drip  
_** _  
The magic bubbled and dribbled out of her hair like the color itself was melting. Lumiose instantly regretted not covering the floor in any extent, as the color could easily stain. He didn't know. It hadn't been on his mind!  
  
Vanessa seemed to catch onto what was going on faster than he expected, covering her eyes to keep the stuff out of them.  
As for the former prince himself, he rushed off to grab a towel.  
  
Lots of water and trying to mop the color up with a towel later, and he FINALLY got to see the result of his efforts.  
  
Her hair had been cut way down. She still had bangs and long strands in the front, where he hadn't touched, but the back was up to a few tufts against her head that were too short to cut.  
And her hair was absolutely pure white, like snow.  
  
He blinked, unsure if he was looking at her correctly. "...You have albinism. You...  
-Ah, that's why your eyes are red!" He slapped his forehead. "It's so obvious!"  
  
Her face became flushed. "I-is that bad...? Do I look alright?" She asked so desperately, so panicked...  
  
I really have to look into getting her self-esteem up on its own...  
Yes, that'd definitely have to be the next thing he researched, once he had a chance to do so...  
  
In the meantime, he quickly assured her, "N-no, you look beautiful!" He smiled warmly. "More beautiful than ever.  
Albinism just means your hair and eyes don't have the proper color pigments..." He paused, taking in her incredibly confused expression. "...It's...well, it's a very rare condition, that leaves you without any color in your hair, eyes, or, depending on the case, skin." Though, don't we both have pure magic running in our veins now...? If we even have veins...  
I wonder why her eyes are still red...  
"As long as it doesn't bother you any, it's perfectly harmless."  
  
"Oh...  
Well, as long as you like it--"  
  
"Do you like it, Nessa?" He asked, unable to stop the words from coming out of his mouth.  
  
She paused. Then she turned back around to the mirror, and took a very hard look at herself...  
...Slowly, she began to smile, big and bright.  
"Yeah! I like it!  
I really like this look~!" She turned back to him, grinning giddily. "Thank you so much, Lumi~!"  
_


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of what I've already written; anything else will prossibly be a while. I'm gonna try to keep writing and updating, of course, but my inspiration can get pretty...fickle.
> 
> If/when I manage to do so, things will probably get a bit more unusual in the italicized part of the fic! It already shows here, but we'll have to wait and see just how far things go...
> 
> Also, it seems like old habits die hard...  
> It's not the end that we need to worry about, but the journey to get there. Wonder what happens? How do they grow so playful and close...?

Vanessa stuck her tongue out as they finally pulled up to the academy. She was thankful they had finally arrived, grateful she could do something more enticing...but she had finally gotten into the swing of the book and had just started in on the good parts.  
Such was life, wasn't it?  
Lumiose stepped out first, then took her hand to help her out. The horse whinnied, snorting and tapping its hooves around in what she could only guess was relief, since it didn't seem panicked. She could only really share in the sentiment; she'd always be grateful to put some distance between her and any animal.  
  
She hadn't had much in the way of expectations for school, yet, somehow, the massive building towering over her managed to surpass her expectations. As Lumi dragged her inside, she tried tilting back enough to see the top, only straightening after all she could see wound up being the ceiling.  
Mildly annoyed, the princess crossed her arms, staring a hole into the back of her boyfriend's head. Sooner or later, he'd notice and get the hint, right?  
  
..."Later" wound up being the key word. And she quickly found the one thing that'd bother her quite a bit about being here.  
Lumiose's attention was completely swallowed up by the building. Even worse, he found the library in record time, quickly rushing in and going across every insignificant book with a fiery gleam in his eyes.  
  
Truthfully, she liked seeing that gleam at the best of times. But, already annoyed from earlier, it just caused her mood to sour further right now. Not helping was the fact that she didn't still particularly _like_ reading, and this place was much bigger than her manor, so if she tried to wander off like she normally would to test him...  
  
Gah.  
  
This would be a lot harder than she thought...  
It was fine, bearable, when he was doing things away from her, so far away that he seemed like a mere thought, a pleasant dream she'd hope to have again. But when he was so close and clearly wanted something more than her...  
It just...  
 ** _" Honestly, you could be replaced by a mere bird and I'm sure it'd work just as well for him..."  
_**...It **_hurt_**.  
After watching him for a moment longer, she realized she was going to have to break him out of his thoughts, or they'd never move on.  
"a-HEM!" She cleared her throat, as loudly as she could. Lumiose startled slightly, quickly whipping around with a sheepish grin.  
  
"Yes, my princess...?"  
  
Words danced along her tongue. So many things she _could_ say...  
"Aren't we...supposed to be going somewhere? To tell them you're here (or whatever...)"  
  
"Ah!" His eyes widened. "S-sorry, I completely forgot...!  
Come, we'll have to hurry if we don't want to be late to assembly...!"  
With that, he grabbed her hand, once again dragging her along...  
  
She didn't mind it quite so much this time.  
  
\--  
  
 _"Lumi, I want to be a knight!"  
  
"-pfff, what...?" Lumiose hadn't intended to laugh at her like that, but he also hadn't exactly been prepared for such an announcement. He looked over at Vanessa, still sort of holding back another snort, though it disappeared relatively fast as he looked at her expectant face. Her eyes were practically shining at the idea, and she seemed to at least have the belief he'd indulge in it for her.  
And in that, she would certainly be correct - he knew from past experience that she wasn't the type of person to take such things lightly. If she went after something, it was in the hopes it'd become part of her in some way...  
  
"I want to be a knight!" She repeated with just as much urgency as before. The popsicle she had been slowly whittling down now hung limply in her hand, neglected and quickly getting warmed up by the hot sun, as her arms had draped over the back of the bench he was sitting on. "Can you find someone to train me?"  
  
He tsk'd. "Why don't you look for someone yourself, since you're so interested~?" He lightly teased, already switching tabs on his phone to do a search.  
[list of fictional knights]  
  
Vanessa adjusted to look over his shoulder. He had already hit search, but left it on the results for her. "You read so much faster than I do..." She mumbled distractedly. He could just barely see the reflection of her face on his screen, her eyes darting back and forth as she tried to read the words without his assistance.  
"...wouldn't 'female fictional knights' be better?"_  
  
 _"I think that'd get corrected to something else." He replied, shrugging. "Like 'warriors' or 'soldiers' or whatever...  
Don't worry, I won't get us sent off to a losing fight with some jerk." And he shifted his attention back to the actual words on the screen. "Plus, I'm sure there'll be some girls in the listings..."  
  
"Okaayy..." She pulled away, managing to rescue her icy treat before it completely fell off the stick.  
"...I wonder how many tries it'll take..."  
  
"hm?"  
  
"To find a version of whoever we choose that is actually...y-you know...up to training me." She elaborated. "I mean, my counterpart is just..." Vanessa paused, frowning for a moment...before making a few, odd shaking gestures with her hands. "...a horror bitch, patrolling the manor.  
I'm sure other me's ended up that way, but...I didn't."  
  
He nodded, briefly glancing up at her. "True...  
Honestly, didn't expect to be dead in basically every telling of our world." A small, vaguely annoyed sigh came from him. "...though, I suppose none of those ended the same way ours did...Maybe there's something we're missing?"  
  
With the popsicle already back in her mouth, all Vanessa could do was make a curious, "mmh?"  
  
Lumiose hesitated. Was this really a thought process he wanted to follow...?  
"Like...I don't know...maybe we weren't supposed to live...?" He suggested. "And that's why our world's gone..."  
  
"...mmmmm..."  
Suddenly, he heard a loud noise behind him, created as she proceeded to crunch down on her snack and take the stick out of her mouth. Once she was free to speak, she placed her arms loosely around his shoulders. "...I think it was you who told me to stop taking the guilt for things I wasn't responsible for...?"  
  
"Y-yeah, but--"  
  
She kissed his head. "I'm sure our survival had nothing to do with it. Whatever DID happen, it sure as heck didn't invite us to the event. Ergo, not our fault.  
You can live with that, right...?"  
  
He blushed, slowly nodding. "Yeah, I can...I have to." He chuckled half-heartedly.  
"...well...there really isn't anything to be gained from worrying about it now..."  
  
"Precisely!" She grinned, proceeding to bury her nose into his hair without permission...and without objection. He liked the attention, after all!  
"So, knights...~?"  
  
"tsk, Such a one track mind~" He chuckled, good-naturedly this time.  
"Let's see here..."_


End file.
